Drill for boring curved holes



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet; 1.

R. H. ELLIOTT& J. B. GARRINGTQN.

DRILL FOR BORING G URVED HOLES. No. 550,783. Patented Dec. 3, 1895.

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ROBERT II. ELLIOTT, OF BIRMINGHAM, AND JOIIN B. OARRING'ION, OFJASPER,ALABAMA, ASSIGNORS TO THE ALABAMA BLASTING AND MINING COMPANY, OFALABAMA.

DRILL FOR BORING CURVED HOLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,783, dated December3, 1895. Application filed February 28, 1895i $erial No. 540,007. (No morleLl To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that we, ROBERTI-I. ELLIOTT, residing at Birmingham, in thecounty of J efferson, and JOHN B. OARRINGTON, residing at Jasper, in thecount-y of alker, State of Alabama, citizens of the United States, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Drills for Boring Curvedl-Ioles and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. i

Our invention. relates to improvements in drills for boring curved holesin rock, metal, wood, or any other material that can be bored.

The said invention is primarily intended for boring in rock, but can bereadily adapted to boring in other materials, as has already beensuggested.

The said invention consists, essentially of a rigid curved shell pipe oreasing, carrying the boring-tool at the forward end thereof, and aflexible shaft or power-transmitting device passing through saidcurvedshell and connecting said boring-tool with the source of power.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which the same partsare indicated by the same letters throughout the several views.

Figure 1 represents a plan view, partly in section, of our improveddrilling-machine as adapted for use in mining, being connected to ajack-post in a mine. Fig. 2 represents a view of a modification in whicha guide-segment is substituted for the swinging sector shown in Fig. 1.Fig. 3 represents a section along the line a 00 of Fig. 1. Fig. irepresents a central longitudinal section of our inven' tion as appliedto drills for boring in metal or wood. Fig. 5 represents a sideelevation of one of the links or segments of the flexible shaft shown inFig. at. Fig. 6 represents an end view of the link shown in Fig. 5 asseen from the left of said figure. Fig. 7 represents another form offlexible shaft in the curved casing. Fig. 8 represents an end view ofone of the links or segments of the flexible shaft shown in Fig. 7. Fig.9 represents a side view of the link or segment shown in Figs. 7, 8,

and 10; and Fig. 10 represents an end view of the link shownin Figs. 7,S, and 9, showing the end opposite to that represented in Fig. 8.

Referring especially to Figs. 1 to 8, in which the device is shown asarranged for use in mining, A represents a hollow pipe made of rigidmaterial and of the desired curvature. This pipe isperforated at itsforward end, as at a, to deliver into the bore-hole the air, water, orother fluid which is fed in through the pipe A for the purpose ofblowing or washing out the chips or cooling the drillsteel, or both.

B represents a wire rope,which is connected by any suitable connectionto the drill-steel or boring-tool O at the forward end of the curvedpipe A. At the other end of the curved pipe A the said wire rope Bterminates in a coupling 1), which is connected by the coupling d to thewire rope D, which wire rope is connected by the couplings d and e to ashaft driven by the pulley E and belt F. Thusmotionist-ransmitted fromthe said belt to the boring-tool O.

In the form of device shown in Fig. 1. the pipe A is clamped in thegroove 7a of the flange K, projecting from the sector K, the oppo siteside of the said pipe engaging in a groove on inthe block M, whichslides on guides and is clamped by means of the screw N, controlled bythe hand-wheel N. The sector K is journaled on the jack-post P, and hasrigidly connected to itself the worm-wheel K in which meshes the worm R,journaled in the bearings P, fast to the jack-post P, and operated bymeans of the hand-wheel B. By means of this hand-wheel Rfthe feed motionis given to the pipeA and the boring-tool O, and the boring-tool may bewithdrawn either by reversingthe motion of the hand-wheel R or byswinging the sector K byhand about the jack-post P. The pulley E isjournaled in the frame H, which may be loosely c011- nected to thejack-post in any desired way- \Vhile we have shown a pulley E as a meansof transmitting motion to the wire ropes D and B, any other means forimparting the rotary motion to these ropes may be adopted, if desired.

It will not always be practicable in a mine,

the space therein being ordinarily very contracted, to arrange the partsas shown in Fig. 1, and therefore some such arrangement as is shown inFig. 2 may be adopted, where the arrangement of the parts is generallysimilar to that shown in Fig. 1, except that the sector K is replaced bya segment S, which is provided with a groove 8, in which a tongue fromthe block K projects. In this form of construction the feed may be byhand, or any desired mechanism for moving the block K along the segmentS may be adopted.

In the form of device shown in Figs. 1 to 3 the flexible shaft is shownas made 0f a wire rope, which would probably not be rigid enough tooperate except in coal or soft rock or soil; but in Figs. 4: to 10 theflexible shaft is made of rigid integral links or segments whose endsadmit of lateral movement relative to each other and yet which present arigid resistance to torsional strains.

In Fig. at the curved shell A is bent, as at a to form a journal-bearingfor the stem 0 of the drill-spindle C to which the tool G is secured.This spindle terminates in a flat lug and is shouldered, as at 0,against which lug and shoulder one of the end lugs Z) of the link Bbears. The opposite lug of the link is obversely disposed to engage theadjacent lug of the next link, as shown in Fig. i.

In the form of flexible shaft shown in Fig. 7 the links B are providedwith lugs b and recesses b obversely disposed in the ends of the links,as shown in detail in Figs. 5 to 10. These links are flexibly connectedtogether by inserting the lugs of each link in the correspondingrecesses of the adjacent link. It will be seen that by this constructiona flexible shaft is secured which affords a rigid resistance totorsional strains; The front end of the flexible shaft is connected tothe tool as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and l or in any other convenient way,and the rear end of the shaft is connected to the source of power asshown in Fig. 1 or in any other way desired. By this mode ofconstruction the flexible shaft may be readily inserted in or removedfrom the curved shell and defective links may be conveniently renewed.

By having the pipe A struck in the form of an arc of a circle of anydesired radius a curve of any desired curvature may be obtained in theborehole.

It will be obvious that many modifications of the herein-describedapparatus might be made which could be used without departing from thespirit of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A device for boring curved holes, comprising a curved rigid shell,with apertures near the front end thereof, a flexible shaft mounted insaid curved shell with fluid spaces between said shaft and the interiorof the shell; a boring tool attached to said flexible shaft; means forrotating said shaft; and means for forcing air or other fluid into thesaid shell to escape through said aperture substantially as described.

2. A device for boring curved holes comprising a rigid shell curved inthe form of an arc of a circle with apertures near the front endthereof,means for moving said shell about the center of said circle, aflexible shaft mounted in said shell with fluid spaces between saidshaft and the interior of the shell, a boring tool attached to saidflexible shaft, means for rotating said shaft, substantially asdescribed, and means for forcing air or other -fluid into said shell toescape through said apertures.

In a mining drill, the combination with a curved rigid shell, a holderfor said rigid shell, pivoted at the inner end of its radius ofcurvature, means for moving said holder about its pivot, a flexibleshaft mounted in said shell, a boring tool attached to the front end ofsaid flexible shaft, and means for rotating said flexible shaft,substantially as described.

st. In a mining drill, the combination with a curved rigid shell in theform of an arc of a circle, a holder for said rigid shell, means formoving said holder about the center of curvature of said shell, aflexible shaft mounted in said shell With fluid spaces between saidshafts and the interior of the shell, a boring tool attached to thefront end of said flexible shaft and means for forcing air or otherfluid into said curved shell and openings for the passage of the fluidnear the front end of the shell,and means for rotating the flexibleshaft, substantially as described.

5. A device for boring curved holes comprising a rigid curved shell, anarm rigidly connected to said shell and pivoted at the center of theradius of curvature thereof, means for moving said arm aboutits pivot, aflexible shaft mounted in said shell, a boring tool attached to saidflexible shaft and larger in diameter than said shell, and means forrotat ing said shaft, substantially as described.

(3. In a mining drill the combination with a curved rigid shell, aholder for said rigid shell, pivoted at the center of curvature thereof,a worm wheel 011 said holder, and a worm engaging in said worm wheelmounted in said shell, a boring tool attached to the front end of saidflexible shaft and larger in diameter than said shell, and means forrotating said flexible shaft, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

ROBERT H. ELLIOTT. JOHN B. OARRINGTON.

W'itnesses for R. H. Elliott:

J. B. ROBINSON,

H. O. KENNARD. Vitnesses for J. B. Oarrington: PHILLIP RICHARDSON,

J. H. HAYES.

